Caxton Associates LLP Invests $1.15 Million in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Caxton Associates LLP purchased a new stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 5,613 shares of the network technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,149,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the second quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 6,400.0% during the 2nd quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 130 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 128 shares in the last quarter. Briaud Financial Planning Inc bought a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the 2nd quarter worth $28,000. Howard Hughes Medical Institute acquired a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the 2nd quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, MTM Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the second quarter valued at about $31,000. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Palo Alto Networks news, Director James J. Goetz sold 12,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $195.33, for a total value of $2,441,625.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 75,184 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,685,690.72. The trade was a 14.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $191.91, for a total value of $23,177,738.34. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 327,645 shares in the company, valued at $62,878,351.95. The trade was a 26.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 1,228,330 shares of company stock worth $251,702,305. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PANW has been the subject of several recent research reports. Rosenblatt Securities upped their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 18th. Scotiabank upped their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $228.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 19th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Monday. Westpark Capital reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Monday, November 24th. Thirty equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $225.09.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Shares of Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $185.88 on Tuesday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a one year low of $144.15 and a one year high of $223.61. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $204.14 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $197.58. The stock has a market capitalization of $129.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 117.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.54 and a beta of 0.79.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, November 20th. The network technology company reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.89 by $0.04. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 11.69% and a return on equity of 17.05%. The firm had revenue of $2.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.46 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.56 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 15.7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Palo Alto Networks Profile

Palo Alto Networks, Inc provides cybersecurity solutions worldwide. The company offers firewall appliances and software; and Panorama, a security management solution for the global control of network security platform as a virtual or a physical appliance. It also provides subscription services covering the areas of threat prevention, malware and persistent threat, URL filtering, laptop and mobile device protection, DNS security, Internet of Things security, SaaS security API, and SaaS security inline, as well as threat intelligence, and data loss prevention.